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Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology Publication Info

Article DOI: 10.1086/502526
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/502526
Dispersal of Staphylococcus aureus Into the Air Associated With a Rhinovirus Infection • 
Stefano Bassetti , MD, Werner E. Bischoff , MD, MSc, Mark Walter , MD, Barbara A. Bassetti‐Wyss , RN, Lori Mason , MS, Beth A. Reboussin , PhD, Ralph B. D’Agostino , Jr., PhD, Jack M. Gwaltney , Jr., MD, Michael A. Pfaller , MD and Robert J. Sherertz , MD
Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology , Vol. 26, No. 2 (February 2005), pp. 196-203
Article DOI: 10.1086/502526
Article Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/502526
Original Articles

Dispersal of Staphylococcus aureus Into the Air Associated With a Rhinovirus Infection

Formats Available in JSTOR: PDF

Abstract(back to top)

OBJECTIVE. To determine whether healthy adult nasal carriers of Staphylococcus aureus can disperse S. aureus into the air after rhinovirus infection.

DESIGN. We investigated the “cloud” phenomenon among adult nasal carriers of S. aureus experimentally infected with a rhinovirus. Eleven volunteers were studied for 16 days in an airtight chamber wearing street clothes, sterile garb, or sterile garb plus surgical mask; rhinovirus inoculation occurred on day 2. Daily quantitative air, nasal, and skin cultures for S. aureus; cold symptom assessment; and nasal rhinovirus cultures were performed.

SETTING. Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston‐Salem, North Carolina.

PARTICIPANTS. Wake Forest University undergraduate or graduate students who had persistent nasal carriage of S. aureus for 4 or 8 weeks.

RESULTS. After rhinovirus inoculation, dispersal of S. aureus into the air increased 2‐fold with peak increases up to 34‐fold. Independent predictors of S. aureus dispersal included the time period after rhinovirus infection and wearing street clothes (P < .05). Wearing barrier garb but not a mask decreased dispersal of S. aureus into the air (P < .05).

CONCLUSION. Virus‐induced dispersal of S. aureus into the air may have an important role in the transmission of S. aureus and other bacteria (Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 2005;26:196‐203)

Bibliographic Information(back to top)

  • Dispersal of Staphylococcus aureus Into the Air Associated With a Rhinovirus Infection
  • Stefano Bassetti , MD, Werner E. Bischoff , MD, MSc, Mark Walter , MD, Barbara A. Bassetti‐Wyss , RN, Lori Mason , MS, Beth A. Reboussin , PhD, Ralph B. D’Agostino , Jr., PhD, Jack M. Gwaltney , Jr., MD, Michael A. Pfaller , MD and Robert J. Sherertz , MD
  • Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology
  • Vol. 26, No. 2 (February 2005) (pp. 196-203)

Author Information(back to top)

Stefano Bassetti , MD; Werner E. Bischoff , MD, MSc; Mark Walter , MD; Barbara A. Bassetti‐Wyss , RN; Lori Mason , MS; Beth A. Reboussin , PhD; Ralph B. D’Agostino , Jr., PhD; Jack M. Gwaltney , Jr., MD; Michael A. Pfaller , MD; Robert J. Sherertz , MD

Notes and References(back to top)

This item contains 1 note(s).

Notes

Drs. Bassetti, Bischoff, Walter, and Sherertz and Ms. Bassetti‐Wyss and Ms. Mason are from the Section on Infectious Diseases, and Drs. Reboussin and D’Agostino are from the Section on Biostatistics, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston‐Salem, North Carolina. Dr. Gwaltney is from the Division of Epidemiology and Virology, University of Virginia Health Sciences Center, Charlottesville, Virginia. Dr. Pfaller is from the Medical Microbiology Division, The University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, Iowa City, Iowa.Address reprint requests to Robert J. Sherertz, MD, Section on Infectious Diseases, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Medical Center Boulevard, Winston‐Salem, NC 27157‐1042. Supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health (1R01AI46558‐01A1, the “Cloud Adult” study) and the Swiss National Science Foundation (to SB).The authors thank Richard Hollis and Linda Boyken for their assistance with the molecular typing. They also thank Deborah Thacker, Division of Epidemiology and Virology, University of Virginia Health Sciences Center, for her professional work with the viral specimen.

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© 2005 by The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America. All rights reserved.